Warrant: New Haven man who shot police officers shot them through a closed door

By Esteban L. Hernandez

Updated 10:19 am, Thursday, October 12, 2017

Photo: Arnold Gold / Hearst Connecticut Media

Image 1of/1

Caption

Close

Image 1 of 1

The scene of the police response to a shootings on Elm St. in New Haven on September 23, 2017.

The scene of the police response to a shootings on Elm St. in New Haven on September 23, 2017.

Photo: Arnold Gold / Hearst Connecticut Media

Warrant: New Haven man who shot police officers shot them through a closed door

1 / 1

Back to Gallery

NEW HAVEN — After helping a woman with multiple gunshot wounds who was taken in by a neighbor on Elm Street, police approached the third-floor apartment where the woman’s husband lived, for a protective sweep.

By then, police had been told the man may have opened fire on the woman, leaving her in critical condition.

Police approached the third-floor apartment at 640 Elm St. and knocked on the locked door. The response was a barrage of gunfire that struck two New Haven police officers standing in the hallway outside. The response prompted a retreat from police and a request for the New Haven Police Tactical Unit, its SWAT team, to respond, according to the arrest warrant submitted by Connecticut State Police.

The arrest warrant was signed by a judge on Sept. 23, the same day of the shooting that left the woman hospitalized in critical condition and unable to provide details at the scene. The warrant originally had been sealed for 14 days following its signing. The warrant does not detail how Monroe was shot by police responding to the scene, which in turn led to Monroe’s hospitalization .

“The facts and circumstances surrounding Monroe’s apprehension by the New Have Police Department Tactical (Swat) team is currently being investigated by the Connecticut State Police, Central District Major Crime Squad,” the warrant reads.

State police spokesman Sgt. Eric J. Haglund said Wednesday the case remains under investigation. The warrant suggested additional charges against Monroe could be filed for his “involvement” in the shooting of the two New Haven police officers. No additional charges were listed online for Monroe as of Wednesday.

According to the warrant, the first of numerous calls from the scene came in to police at about 10 a.m. Neighbors and callers told dispatchers and later police that they heard numerous gunshots, with one witness reporting 15 to 20 shots. One witnesses reported seeing Monroe brandishing a gun after pulling it from his waistband, while another said Monroe took the gun out from a backpack.

One witness called 911 after allegedly seeing Monroe gain entry to the house after firing at a door that the victim tried locking behind her. The witness said she continued hearing gunshots from the interior of the apartment while she made the emergency call. The witness said she took the victim in for safety after seeing the victim run down her own driveway. The witness noted the victim was bleeding from several areas of her body.

Once the victim was inside the neighbor’s house, that witness told police she looked out the window and saw Monroe outside in the roadway with a handgun in his hand.

Hours later, and with the help of a robot, police located Monroe in his basement and located a handgun on the floor near his side. According to the warrant, investigators found a large pooling of blood on the floor at the bottom of the basement stairs where Monroe was found. Blood smears also were found on the door, leading to the interior of the basement.

Monroe is scheduled to appear in court Oct. 17. He initially was held in lieu of $900,000 bail.